I believe it is helpful for the public to realize all the difficult hoops women raising children alone have to deal with particularly when they are trying to protect their children. The "system "makes it that much harder to deal with and that is a subject worth exploring. The working poor is a huge problem in America. As for the performances, ALL were incredibly believable and brilliantly acted. I was transfixed by the performance of the child over and over again and often wondered how many "takes" it took to get the sleeping face, the gentle spirit of this little one!